Preserve summer with canned vegetable lečo

Canned Vegetable Lečo Recipe

Summer is a time when our gardens and markets are overflowing with fresh vegetables. Colorful peppers, juicy tomatoes, crunchy zucchinis, and many other fruits smile at us from every garden bed and stall. But what do you do when you want to preserve these summer flavors for later, in the cooler autumn and winter days? One tried and true method is canning, and canned vegetable lečo is a great way to keep summer delights in a jar. This canned vegetable lečo recipe is simple, quick, and incredibly tasty.

Canned Vegetable Lečo: Why You'll Love It

Lečo is a traditional dish with roots in Hungarian cuisine, but its popularity has spread to many other countries, including the Czech Republic. This simple dish combines fresh peppers, tomatoes, and onions – basics that can easily be varied according to your taste. Canned vegetable lečo is an ideal way to preserve this combination of flavors for later.

The advantage of canning is that you can prepare lečo in advance and quickly heat it up at any time of the year to serve as a main dish or side. Jars full of lečo in the pantry can save your lunch or dinner when you don't have time for long cooking. Moreover, canned vegetable lečo retains vitamins and minerals from fresh vegetables, so not only does it taste great, but it's also healthy.

How to Prepare Canned Vegetable Lečo Step by Step

For this canned vegetable lečo recipe, you will need several basic ingredients that are likely found in your kitchen or garden. Before you start, it's important to prepare everything properly and plan, so the whole process runs smoothly.

Selecting and Preparing Ingredients

The foundation of successful lečo is quality and fresh ingredients. You will need:

• Peppers – ideally red, yellow, and green, which will give the lečo not only taste but also beautiful color.
• Tomatoes – ripe and juicy tomatoes are essential for creating a rich base.
• Onion – onion adds sweetness and depth of flavor to the lečo.
• Zucchini – if you prefer a milder texture, add zucchini, which complements the lečo perfectly.
• Salt, pepper, and optionally other spices to taste, such as sweet paprika or garlic.

Start by thoroughly washing and cleaning all the vegetables. Cut the peppers into medium-sized pieces, you can peel and chop the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Finely chop the onion and dice the zucchini.

Cooking the Lečo

Now comes the cooking itself. In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the onion until it softens and starts to turn golden. This is the moment when the sweetness starts to release from the onion, preparing the base for the rest of the dish. Then add the chopped peppers and briefly sauté them to develop their flavors.

Next, add the tomatoes and zucchini, salt the mixture, pepper it, and if you like, add other spices such as ground paprika, which gives the lečo a gentle smoky flavor. Let everything simmer slowly over low heat until the vegetables soften and a wonderfully fragrant mixture forms. The cooking process takes about 20–30 minutes, during which all the flavors meld into a delicious base. Make sure the mixture is not too thin; if necessary, you can simmer it without a lid for a while to evaporate excess liquid.

Preparing Jars and Canning

Once the lečo is ready, it's important to can it properly so that it lasts as long as possible in the jars. Prepare clean jars with lids – it's ideal to sterilize the jars before use. You can, for example, briefly boil them in hot water or sterilize them in the oven. Sterilization is important to ensure no bacteria form in the jars that could spoil the lečo.

Pour the hot lečo into the prepared jars, sealing them tightly immediately. Then place the jars in a canning pot with water and process for about 20 minutes. This step is crucial to ensure that the lečo in the jars lasts for months without the need for refrigeration.

Storing and Using

Store canned vegetable lečo in a dry and cool place, ideally in a pantry. Properly canned jars will last for several months without the contents spoiling. When you crave something quick and tasty, just open a jar, heat the lečo, and serve it with fresh bread or as a side to meat or pasta.

This canned vegetable lečo recipe is ideal for those who want to preserve summer flavors for the cooler months. Preserving vegetables in this form allows you to enjoy the freshness and richness of summer anytime, even when it's snowing or raining outside. Canned vegetable lečo is not only practical but also incredibly tasty. Plus, when you stock up on jars full of lečo, you'll always have a quick and nutritious meal on hand that the whole family will appreciate.

Don't be afraid to experiment and add other ingredients to the lečo according to your taste. There are many possibilities, and everyone can find their ideal combination. Whether you choose classic peppers and tomatoes or add mushrooms or other seasonal vegetables, one thing is certain – canned vegetable lečo will become a treasure in your pantry that you'll love returning to.